A SEPTA regional rail Silverline.
Credit: Metro file photo
SEPTA and the Regional Rail engineers union have reached a tentative deal.
The agreement between the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and SEPTA includes a $1,250 lump sum signing bonus as well as an 8.5-percent wage increase when the pact is approved, and a 3-percent raise in April 2015 for the 220 employees.
The agreement, which was five years in the making, requires approval of both the union and SEPTA officials.
The union said it will continue to argue for SEPTA to address its workers’ safety concerns. In a statement, Steve Bruno, national vice president of BLET, said the union’s concerns will be taken to the Federal Railroad Association.
Last week, SEPTA asked the Obama Administration to green light a second board of federal negotiators to find common ground between the transit authority and the BLET. The board’s intervention would have prevented the workers from striking for another 120 days.
Obama put together the first board on June 14 to pull the engineers back from a strike, which lasted a day.
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